COLD LAKE - The City of Cold Lake approved an amendment to the Criminal Record Check Fee Bylaw, implementing a slight increase in fees for 2025.
This adjustment, discussed at the Dec. 10 council meeting, is aimed at addressing rising costs and inflation. It will see the standard and student criminal record check fees rise by $1, while the fee for volunteer checks will remain unchanged.
The changes are set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, according to the City of Cold Lake.
Kristi Isert, General Manager of Corporate Services, explained that the fee increase was a 2.5 per cent adjustment to the criminal record check fees.
"What we did is we increased the standard and the student criminal record checks from $25 to $26 each for 2025, and the volunteer one stayed at the $10, so that wasn't increased at all,” Isert added.
The decision to increase fees was part of the City's broader initiative during the 2025 Budget deliberations, where council directed that a small overall increase be applied to various licenses, fees, and rates.
Isert noted that the fee increase for the standard and student checks is about four per cent, and recommended that the changes take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, with all readings of the bylaw completed that evening.
Council approved the first, second, and third readings of the bylaw during the meeting, marking a straightforward decision in line with the City’s planned fee adjustments for the upcoming year.
